We examined this gene-environment interaction hypothesis in a sample of 3356 white and 960 black men (aged 24-34) participating in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
Primary analysis indicated that childhood maltreatment was a significant risk factor for later behaviors that violate rules and the rights of others (p < .05), there were no main effects of MAOA genotype, and MAOA genotype was not a significant moderator of the relationship between maltreatment and antisocial behaviors in our white sample. Post hoc analyses identified a similar pattern of results among our black sample in which maltreatment was not a significant predictor of antisocial behavior. Post hoc analyses also revealed a main effect of MAOA genotype on having a disposition toward violence in both samples and for violent convictions among our black sample. None of these post hoc findings, however, survived correction for multiple testing (p > .05). Power analyses indicated that these results were not due to insufficient statistical power.
We could not confirm the hypothesis that MAOA genotype moderates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adult antisocial behaviors.